MRI has recently emerged as an important modality for imaging global and regional function of the heart, because of its good image quality and its unique ability to quantify regional motion. Quantification makes MRI observer-independent and objective. In addition, MRI quantification can reveal transmural regional function. MRI, however, suffers from several limitations that make it clinically limited for quantifying regional function, despite its image quality and unique abilities. These limitations include the need for long imaging times, which often requires breath holding, and long and difficult post-processing for motion quantification. On the other hand, an imaging technique that reveals regional function directly, i.e., does not require post-processing, would not only eliminate analysis time, but also would shorten imaging time. We propose a technique for encoding the regional function directly from MR images that will enable continuous imaging of regional function without the need for breath holding. We have recently reported that strain encoded (SENC) MRI produces images whose regional brightness depends on the regional function of the heart, which can be viewed as a non-physical contrast, called strain contrast. In preliminary SENC experiments with patients and dogs, dysfunctional regions in the heart appeared hypo-enhanced (or hyper-enhanced) relative to remote normal regions. In this research, we will develop and validate a SENC MRI system for continuous (i.e., no need for breath holding) online imaging of regional function of the whole heart. The system will run continuously during a dobutamine stress test, providing real-time monitoring of changes in regional function, and automatically detect ischemic changes.
Our specific aims are to 1) improve the quality of SENC images and the sensitivity of the strain contrast, and test the hypotheses that 2) continuous imaging of regional function using fast SENC has the same accuracy in quantifying regional function as 3D MR tagging, and 3) that the SENC MRI system can automatically detect changes in regional function in the whole heart. By the end of this project, we will have developed and validated the SENC MRI method for continuous monitoring of regional function and will then be ready to perform clinical studies on a larger number of patients. Our long-term goal will be to compare the clinical sensitivity and specificity of SENC for determining viability against other existing modalities, such as SPECT, PET, or dobutamine stress echo.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01HL072704-01A1
Application #
6679258
Study Section
Diagnostic Imaging Study Section (DMG)
Program Officer
Buxton, Denis B
Project Start
2003-08-07
Project End
2007-07-31
Budget Start
2003-08-07
Budget End
2004-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$360,255
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
001910777
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Harouni, Ahmed A; Hossain, Jakir; Jacobs, Michael A et al. (2011) Improved hardware for higher spatial resolution strain-encoded (SENC) breast MRI for strain measurements. Acad Radiol 18:705-15
Harouni, Ahmed A; Jacobs, Michael A; Osman, Nael F (2011) Finding the optimal compression level for strain-encoded (SENC) breast MRI; simulations and phantom experiments. Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv 14:444-51
Neizel, Mirja; Korosoglou, Grigorios; Lossnitzer, Dirk et al. (2010) Impact of systolic and diastolic deformation indexes assessed by strain-encoded imaging to predict persistent severe myocardial dysfunction in patients after acute myocardial infarction at follow-up. J Am Coll Cardiol 56:1056-62
Shehata, Monda L; Basha, Tamer A; Tantawy, Wahid H et al. (2010) Real-time single-heartbeat fast strain-encoded imaging of right ventricular regional function: normal versus chronic pulmonary hypertension. Magn Reson Med 64:98-106
Fahmy, Ahmed S; Basha, Tamer A; Osman, Nael F (2009) Inherent fat cancellation in complementary spatial modulation of magnetization. Magn Reson Med 61:234-8
Neizel, Mirja; Lossnitzer, Dirk; Korosoglou, Grigorios et al. (2009) Strain-encoded MRI for evaluation of left ventricular function and transmurality in acute myocardial infarction. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging 2:116-22
Basha, Tamer A; Ibrahim, El-Sayed H; Weiss, Robert G et al. (2009) Cine cardiac imaging using black-blood steady-state free precession (BB-SSFP) at 3T. J Magn Reson Imaging 30:94-103
Korosoglou, Grigorios; Lossnitzer, Dirk; Schellberg, Dieter et al. (2009) Strain-encoded cardiac MRI as an adjunct for dobutamine stress testing: incremental value to conventional wall motion analysis. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging 2:132-40
Neizel, Mirja; Lossnitzer, Dirk; Korosoglou, Grigorios et al. (2009) Strain-encoded (SENC) magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate regional heterogeneity of myocardial strain in healthy volunteers: Comparison with conventional tagging. J Magn Reson Imaging 29:99-105
Kraitchman, Dara L; Gilson, Wesley D; Lorenz, Christine H (2008) Stem cell therapy: MRI guidance and monitoring. J Magn Reson Imaging 27:299-310

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